The Daily editor prods his reporters - but did Rupert prod him first?

Is News Corporation's iPad "newspaper" having some teething troubles? It would appear so, if one reads between the lines of a memo sent this week to The Daily's staff by editor-in-chief Jesse Angelo.

He urges his editorial team to go beyond "scraping the web and the wires" and do some real reporting.

Subject: The news

Folks, Egypt is over – time for us to get focused on covering America.

We need to get out there and start finding more compelling stories from around the country – not just scraping the web and the wires, but getting out on the ground and reporting.

Find me an amazing human story at a trial the rest of the media is missing. Find me a school district where the battle over reform is being fought and tell the human tales.

Find a town that is going to be unincorporated because it's broke. Find me a story of corruption and malfeasance in a state capitol that no one has found. Find me something new, different, exclusive and awesome.

Find me the oldest dog in America, or the richest man in South Dakota. Force the new White House press secretary to download The Daily for the first time because everyone at the gaggle is asking about a story we broke.

Get in front of a story and make it ours – force the rest of the media to follow us.

It's good stories that will keep people coming back to The Daily – we've assembled a crack news team, so let's show the world what we can do.

It could be seen as nothing more than an editor applying a cattle prod to remind The Daily's journalists of their central task.

But, so soon after launch (14 days ago), it does have the hallmarks of an editor who realises he hasn't got his message across to his troops because they are not supplying appropriate material.

Of course, it might also indicate that Angelo is responding to criticism from above. There is much about the news agenda in that memo that reminds me of Rupert Murdoch's newspaper instincts. Did he apply the cattle prod first?